These writings will record our adoption journey to China to meet our daughter. We will post our thoughts and adventures so that she will have this record of her parent's experiences. It's all about Isabel!!!!

Weather in Victoria

Weather in Nanchang

Weather in Beijing

Monday, February 26, 2007

Camie kitty is okay. She started eating on her own again and spent the day with Shawn. Lots of cuddles and snuggles. She is on her kooshie in front of the fire right now. What a relief!!!I have been thinking about the trans-racial adoption question all day today and I have come to a conclusion. I think that it is better for a child to be with a family than without and I think that even though we will be of different ethnic backgrounds we will still be a family who love one another. This doesn't mean that we won't explore and share Isabel's Chinese culture, it just means that I think that her life will be much fuller and happier as a part of our family.I found this link on one of my yahoo groups and thought that I would share it. It is quite good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekMZw_mP-Xc . Cheers!!!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

I see from my posts that I am managing one a week now. When I started this endeavor I had hoped to post daily so that we would have a record of what we were doing or thinking when Isabel was born etc. Well, I am doing my best but life always seems to get in the way. I don't know how people can blog everyday!!!!So yes, a good weekend but Camie Cat is sick and having some trouble. When you have a nineteen year old kitty, you can't help but worry. I coaxed her into eating with some defrosted Christmas turkey but she is still having some tummy troubles :( My poor darling, she just curls up in my arms and won't let me go.She had to this morning though, as yesterday and today we went to an Adoption Education Workshop, put on by our agency. It was good and although I didn't feel that any of the information was new, the discussions were super. Each day we had a panel of adoptive parents and adoptees. Their stories and their willingness to answer our questions was really beneficial. We also viewed a DVD which had inter-racial adult adoptees talking and it was super. The one comment that sticks in my mind is "you had better be able to explain to your child why you adopted her when you are Caucasian and your child is not". Shawn has a different experience than I do being from the Caribbean, but I am a short, white, blond haired, blue eyed girl so these comments really hit home. I know that we are adopting from China because we have always felt that our daughter was there. This was before we knew anything about the process, the risk factors etc but I think that I will have to delve a little deeper so that I can give Isabel a concrete and truthful answer to this question. The one thing I do know and I have said it before, is that adoption was not our second choice - it was our first and Isabel is not a "replacement" for our "real" birth child. From what I have read and heard, so many adoptees feel that they are the "second" choice and I can't ever imagine feeling like that or having a child who feels this way. In fact, when I was little there were times when I would say "I wish I was adopted" when I was mad. Many of my friends were and they were always told that they were "special" and "chosen" which I thought was so much better than just being born to my parents. Ah life. Off to think and take care of my sick kitty...

Sunday, February 18, 2007

What a great day - it is cold and blustery today (as Pooh Bear would say!!). Silly me, I made plans to have bubble tea this morning with my friend Tania and we decided to walk and then meet downtown. Yikes, it was COLD. I had my raincoat on and ended up with my hood strings pulled so tightly that I could hardly see out of the little space I had left!!! The bubble tea was nice and warm, we walked around and checked out stores and then met Shawn for Dim Sum at Don Mee. Yummy!!!! I took some pictures of our celebrations in the oldest Chinatown in Canada.

These are the dragon dancers going from storefront to storefront, bringing good luck to store owners in the new year. There is a paper by the wheels of the bike and this is where they lit off the firecrackers!!! The bike was fine. After each dance at each storefront, the firecrackers are lit and the dragon dances to the next storefront to the sound of the band, pictured here.These guys wear the dragon "pants" and make a good bit of noise!! Being 5ft 2, I was able to sneak in front and take these great photos.

This photo is a picture of the gates into our beautiful Chinatown and as you can see, it was a busy place today. We had to wait 45 min to get a seat at our favorite restaurant!! I also wanted to share this photo of the Chinese school in our town. It is hard to see but there are pictures on all of the windows, created by the children, to welcome in the year of the pig. So very festive. At work, I have a wonderful sign wrapped around my office door that is going to bring good luck in the coming year.

As an aside, for some reason, this past weekend I keep seeing us in China this summer, meeting Isabel. Yesterday during my massage/reflexology treatment, I kept seeing a little silhouette of a baby wrapped in a blanket. I didn't see her face, just the outline of her hair and the blanket. So, even though the estimates say next fall into winter, I see us going a little sooner than that. When I said this to Shawn, he said "Oh no, we're not ready for her yet!!!". Well, I don't know about him but I certainly am!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, February 12, 2007

I was just over on the Salsa website (see my sidebar if you don't know to whom I refer to) and noticed that Mary Mia and Rod are both celebrating birthdays. Well so are we!! It was my birthday this past weekend and Shawn's is next weekend. I have read a number of blogs where the parents of adoptive children are Aquarius. I wonder if Aquarians love to write and blog or if there is a higher percentage of Aquarians that choose to adopt. Questions that roll around in my mind that I thought I would share.On another note, thank you everyone for my cute cards and the birthday wishes!! My Dad and Step- mom are out here visiting and we had a fabulous dinner last night at Vista 18. It is on the 18th floor of one of our hotels and the view last night was stunning!! The food was fabulous and the wine was great. Shawn baked me a dark chocolate cake (made with ground almonds and Bernard Calebeau chocolate) that was incredible too. A great birthday all around!! Love you guys.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

My Feb DTC pal has been revealed and she is Samantha from PEI!!!! The funny thing is, she was my secret pal too, so we have been exchanging gifts with one another for these past few months. Too funny!!!!!! You can read all about Sam's journey here at Spitting Wooden Nickels. She is a very interesting person with some very insightful thoughts and a HUGE chocolate lover.

As you can see by the photo, Sam was so very generous this month with special gifts from PEI - the Cows dress and a shovel for playing in the sand. For those of you who don't know, PEI is an island with beautiful red soil, just think "Anne of Green Gables". We also live on an island, Vancouver island with rocky beaches with lots of sand too. Isabel will love this special gift and I hope that we do make it to the other coast sometime!! Sam also sent us a winter hat and gloves with a little Inuit on it with a story!! So sweet. Yes, these will be very useful if we keep having snow - banish the thought - but also useful for the cold winter wind days when we like to go walking on the beach!!! It was actually supposed to snow today but it is 8 Celsius so I doubt it!! The Massage books for babies and kitties are lovely and will be so useful for Isabel - Camie is already addicted to some of my "new moves" !!! I am also loving the massage lotion you sent and will have to investigate where to find some!!!!!!! By the way, Shawn's pet name for me is "bunnyrabbit" in full, "bunny" for short (yes I KNOW!!!) and he LOVES the "Little Rabbit" book. The L'il Dippers, Beetlespoon and the Express soap will be sooooo helpful in China!! You would never know this, but each time I am in my favorite bookstore, I walk by the packaged letters and stare at the "I". You must have pulled that message from somewhere because the wooden "I" is PERFECT!! Of course, from one chocolate lover to the other the dark chocolate Hershey's kisses are to DIE for!!! Thank you so much and sharing them with Shawn, hmnn have to think about that. Sam, thank you SO much for being my pal, it gave me much pleasure to find gifts for you and I have loved all of your gifts to me. Keep in touch!!!!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

We're out of the review room!!!!!! Yippeeeeeee!!!!!! The CCAA has reviewed up to March 22, 2006!!! So excited and sooooo very relieved. It is our 11 month LID anniversary today too. Wow!!! What a day. Have to go look at all of the new babies referred...